People

In 1999, when Kenny Dichter took his first private jet ride on a friend's Hawker 800XP from New York to Boston, the airplane wasn't all that took wing. Dichter spotted an untapped market. Less than a decade later, he helms a jet-card subsidiary to industry giant NetJets that had sales of approximately $800 million to $900 million last year.

"I try to live by one simple rule," said T. Boone Pickens. "Work eight hours and sleep eight hours, and make sure they are not the same eight hours." He chuckled and then added, "But I have to tell you, I'm not doing so well these days following that rule. I need a hell of a lot more than eight hours to get in all the work I need to do."

Real estate developer Richard Friedman has been winning plaudits for his unusual latest project: the transformation of the historic Charles Street Jail in Boston's Beacon Hill district into the luxurious, award-winning Liberty Hotel.

The aviation bug bit Alex Wilcox at an early age, back when an airline pilot could invite a wide-eyed youngster into the cockpit during a long flight. Wilcox's Swiss mother and American father spent lots of time in Europe, and he vividly recalls extended conversations with pilots while crossing the North Atlantic.

It didn't take long for 28-year-old golfer Adam Scott to accumulate all the trappings of sports superstardom. Eight years after turning pro, he commands more than $8 million a year in endorsement fees and has accumulated $23 million in tournament winnings.

Legendary film director Sydney Pollack, who died of cancer on May 26 at age 73, was the subject of a December 2005 cover story in Business Jet Traveler. Pollack-whose credits include The Way We Were, Tootsie and the seven-Oscar-winning Out of Africa-wound up in our pages because he owned a Cessna Citation X and ostensibly loved flying privately as much as he loved moviemaking.

Quote/Unquote

“[New billionaires in fast-growing countries] have to buy longer-range airplanes. If you’re flying from Mongolia to Nigeria, it’s either a three-day journey flying commercial or a nine-hour flight on your jet.”